Title
Heartwood Financing Plan (B)
Explanation
The former Kennedy Homes site is a well-known property in East Gainesville. However, over the years the property unfortunately came to embody many negative stereotypes associated with low-income housing. Challenged by poor maintenance, drug, and crime issues, problems at Kennedy Homes resulted in negative impacts to the surrounding community. As a result of a fire, the buildings were eventually demolished due to disrepair. In 2007, the City purchased and cleared the property for a total of $2,605,738; of which $575,000 was borrowed from the Home Fund to be repaid from the land sale proceeds. Simultaneously, the City and the CRA coordinated the Southeast Gainesville Renaissance Initiative (SEGRI), which produced a Master Plan consisting of a series of conceptual development visions for six key southeast Gainesville sites, including Kennedy Homes. The site was designated as a residential component of the master plan due to the overwhelming absence of new housing stock in the area. The new residential development would bring an increase in tax values to offset the initial investment made by the City. After many stakeholder meetings lead by the CRA Staff and an outside marketing team, “Heartwood” emerged as the favorite of the community as the name of this new development.
Heartwood is a 15.1 acre infill redevelopment project that will accommodate 34 single family detached homes. After receiving the third and final round of comments from City Planning for permitting, and the St. John’s River Water Management District for storm water, CRA Staff is nearing the conclusion of the construction permitting approval process, which would yield construction documents for storm water, site work, wetland mitigation, roads and sidewalks, utility infrastructure and more. This approval will allow construction to begin and the co...
Click here for full text